Photoelectric device for counting advancing overlapped flat articles



Nov. 23, 1965 REIST 219,829

W. PHOTOELECTRIG DEVICE FOR COUNTING ADVANCING OVERLAPPED FLAT ARTICLES Filed March 28, 1962 United States Patent 3,219,829 PHOTOELECTRIC DEVICE FOR COUNTING AD- VAN CING OVERLAPPED FLAT ARTICLES Walter Reist, Wallisellen, Zurich, Switzerland, assignor to Ferag, Fehr, & Reist A.G., Zurich, Switzerland Filed Mar. 28, 1962, Ser. No. 183,173 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Mar. 30, 1961, 3,841/ 61 8 Claims. (Cl. 250223) The present invention relates to counting apparatus for counting articles travelling along a transfer path and which is particularly adapted to count products, for example journals, delivered in imbricated manner from a rotary press, by means of a counting pulse emitter having a feeler which projects into the path of movement of the products and is operatively connected with a counter.

The counting pulse emitter of known counting apparatus is arranged in fixed position a certain distance above the transfer path, the feeler projecting by an adjustable amount into the path of travel of the products to be counted. With differences in the respective levels of the products, which differences often occur with articles delivered in imbricated manner from the rotary press, according to the speed thereof, or in dependence on other factors, the counting pulse emitter then fails to operate, since the feeler which is adjusted to an ideal height is deflected too much or not at all.

To correct this situation, attempts have been made to replace the mechanical feeler by a photoelectric feeler. For this purpose a light beam has been caused to be reflected by the products onto a photoelectric cell. However, perfect results in counting could not be obtained by this method, since unfounded or unjustified counting pulses have often been produced or failed to appear quite accidentally, as for instance as caused by dirty products. In addition, both known constructions of the recording pulse emitter are subjected to the drawback that interruptions in the continuous flow of the products will falsify the result of the count.

It is an object of the present invention to avoid these disadvantages and to provide counting apparatus for counting articles travelling along a transfer path; particularly articles such as journals and the like arranged in imbricated manner, by means of which apparatus a one hundred percent correct counting result can be obtained. According to the present invention these results are obtained by counting apparatus of the above type in which a counting pulse emitter having a feeler projecting into the path of movement of the articles is operatively connected with a counting device and is restrained from movement in the transfer direction of the articles, but is mounted to freely float in a vertical plane and is adapted to be directly supported by the articles travelling along the transfer path.

The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating, by way of example, a preferred embodiment of the invention, which embodiment for the sake of simplicity and clearness deals with the counting of the products of a rotary press delivered in imbricated form. In these drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a view in elevation of the counting pulse emitter partly shown in section and FIGURE 2 shows a plan view of the counting pulse emitter.

The transfer path is formed by a conveyer belt 1 on which travel the articles 2 to 'be transferred which, in this example, are assumed to be journals delivered in imbricated manner from a rotary press. A fixed bearing bracket 3 is arranged above the belt 1 and serves for the pivotal suspension of a link 4 extending in the transfer direction T. The free end of link 4 is forked at 5 and carries a journal pin 6 for pivotal connection of a housing 7 of a pulse emitter 8 and for rotatably mounting a supporting wheel 9.

The housing 7 of the counting pulse emitter 8 is supported directly upon the conveyor belt 1 or upon the printed products travelling on the conveyer belt by means of the supporting wheel 9 as well as by supporting rollers 10 disposed at the opposite end of the housing 7. Several times folded, thick printed products, for example newspapers, and also lighter printed matters can pass underneath the counting pulse emitter in this arrangement without upsetting the imbricated position of the printed products.

A two-armed lever 11 is mounted pivotally about an axis 12 in the housing 7 of the counting pulse emitter, one arm 11 of the lever 11 extending downwardly from the housing 7 acts as a feeler while the other arm 11", under the influence of a spring 13, abuts against the end of an adjustable stop screw 14. The arrangement is such that the extremity of the feeler 11' will be positioned slightly above a line forming a tangent to the supporting wheel 9 and to the forward roller 10. It will be understood that this particular positioning of the feeler 11' mainly is a matter of adjustment which may be varied according to the particular conditions.

The lever arm 11" is provided with a wing 15 having a hole 16 through which passes a light beam of a light source 17 of a photoelectric pulse exciter 18 when the lever 11 is in the illustrated position abutting against the abutting screw 14. The light 'beam 19 strikes a photoelectric cell 20. When lever arm 11' is contacted by an article 2 the solid portion of wing 15 is moved into the path of light beam 19 and the impulse which is produced by the interruption of the light beam is delivered to a counter (not shown) by means of a conductor 22.

As it will be easily seen from the drawings such pulses are always emitted when the leading edge 21 of the printed products 2 moving in the direction of transfer T strikes against the feeler 11 and causes the lever 11 to tilt upwardly in a counterclockwise direction about the axis 12, so that the light beam is interrupted by the face of the wing 15. Since the counting pulse emitter 8 always moves over the top side of the travelling imbricated products, the counting result is not influenced by the varying thickness of the products. In other words, the result of the counting operation remains correct when the form of imbrication deviates from that shown in FIGURE 1, as for example when the number of imbricated articles per unit of length is smaller or greater.

Any interruption in the flow of products does not have any influence upon the counting result. Products which are individually delivered and conveyed are counted just as correctly as if they were transferred in an uninterrupted imbricated flow. A further disadvantage of the initially mentioned counting devices is thereby avoided, said disadvantage consisting in that very often not only the leading but also the trailing edge of the products is included in the counting operation whereby each interruption of .the continuous flow increases the error by an additional unit.

The use of a photoelectric pulse emitter contributes somewhat to the accuracy of the result of the count, and owing to the absence of mechanical contacts also improves the reliability of the apparatus. A similar advantage results from the use of the supporting wheel 9, since this wheel on the one hand depresses the forward edge of the printed products, and on the other hand assists in retaining the feeler 11 in the correct position. The supporting wheel, however, could also be omitted. The counting pulse emitter could also be supported for example by means of skids or otherwise in suitable manner. Generally it can be stated that any manner of supporting the counting pulse emitter upon the products will be suitable to obtain the absolutely correct counting result which actually has been attained with the described example of construction.

I claim:

1. A counting device for counting flat articles conveyed along a transfer path in partially overlapping, imbricated arrangement, said device comprising: an impulse transmitter, first means piv'otally supporting the transmitter and resting at one location on the articles, said first means restraining movement of the impulse transmitter in the direction of the transfer path, and second means coupled to the impulse transmitter and resting upon the articles at a second location disposed in spaced relation with said one location, said transmitter includ- 7 ing a feeler projecting into the path of the articles between said two locations for sensing the passage of the articles for feeding a pulse counter which is operatively associated with said transmitter to count the number of pulses which are generated as a result of the feeler sensing the passage of the articles.

2. A counting device according to claim 1, in which the feeler is arranged above a line connecting the said two locations.

3. A counting device according to claim 2 wherein said first means includes a link having one end hingeably supported from a fixed support and an opposite end hingeably connected to the impulse transmitter and defining a pivotal axis therefor.

4. A counting device according'to claim 3 wherein said first and second means respectively comprise a wheel rotatably supported at said locations, one of said wheels being supported for rotation about the pivotal axis for the impulse transmitter.

5. A counting device according to claim 4, in which the impulse transmitter includes a photoelectric pulse transmitter comprising a photoelectric cell and a light source facing said cell.

6. A counting device according to claim 5 wherein the feeler includes a pivotally supported lever and a wing on said lever having an opening through which a light beam from said source passes to the photoelectric cell, said lever being pivotally moved by the passage of an article to cause the light beam to be interrupted by the wing,

4 which causes a pulse to be transmitted to the pulse counter.

7. A counting device for counting flat articles conveyed along a transfer path in partially overlapping imbricated arrangement, said device comprising: means pivotally supported for movement about a fixed axis located above the transfer path, an impulse transmitter, housing means supporting the impulse transmitter from the first said means for pivotal movement about an axis remote from said fixed axis, and means for supporting the housing means and the impulse transmitter therewith on the article being conveyed at spaced locations, said impulse transmitter including feeler means pivotally supported from the housing means to project between the spaced locations into the path of the articles for contacting the passing articles to be pivotally moved thereby,

said impulse transmitter being adapted for connectionwith a pulse counter which counts the number of pulses which are generated as a result of the feeler means sensing the passage of the articles.

8. A counting device for counting flat articles conveyed along a transfer path in partially overlapping im- =bricated arrangement, said device comprising: a link having one end pivotally supported for movement about a fixed axis located above the transfer path, a wheel supported on the link for rotation about an axis distant from the first said axis, said wheel in turn being adapted for resting on said articles, a housing connected to the link for pivotal movement about an axis coincident with the axis about which the wheel is rotatably supported on the link, a further wheel on said housing, spaced from the first said wheel, for resting on the articles, an impulse transmitter supported on said housing and including a source of light and a photoelectric cell for receiving a light beam from said source, said impulse transmitter including a feeler pivotally supported from the housing and extending into the path of the articles between said wheels for being pivotally moved by said articles as the same pass the feeler, and wing means on said feeler for interrupting the light beam upon passage of an article to generate a pulse which may be counted in a pulse counter which is adapted for connection with the photoelectric cell of the impulse transmitter.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,465,215 3/1949 Fergnani 250223 2,617,593 11/1952 Audier et al. 9393 X 2,892,627 6/1959 Newhouse 270- RALPH G. NILSON, Primary Examiner. ARCHIE BQRCHELT, Examiner. 

8. A COUNTING DEVICE FOR COUNTING FLAT ARTICLES CONVEYED ALONG A TRANSFER PATH IN PARTIALLY OVERLAPPING IMBRICATED ARRANGEMENT, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING: A LINK HAVING ONE END PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED FOR MOVEMENT ABOUT A FIXED AXIS LOCATED ABOVE THE TRANSFER PATH, A WHEEL SUPPORTED ON THE LINK FOR ROTATION ABOUT AN AXIS DISTANT FROM THE FIRST SAID AXIS, SAID WHEEL IN TURN BEING ADAPTED FOR RESTING ON SAID ARTICLES, A HOUSING CONNECTED TO THE LINK FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT ABOUT AN AXIS COINCIDENT WITH THE AXIS ABOUT WHICH THE WHEEL IS ROTATABLY SUPPORTED ON THE LINK, A FURTHER WHEEL ON SAID HOUSING, SPACED FROM THE FIRST SAID WHEEL, FOR RESTING ON THE ARTICLES, AN IMPULSE TRANSMITTER SUPPORTED ON SAID HOUSING AND INCLUDING A SOURCE OF LIGHT AND A PHOTOELECTRIC CELL FOR RECEIVING A LIGHT BEAM FROM SAID SOURCE, SAID IMPULSE TRANSMITTER INCLUDING A FEELER PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED FROM THE HOUSING AND EXTENDING OUT THE PATH OF THE ARTICLES BETWEEN SAID WHEELS FOR BEING PIVOTALLY MOVED BY SAID ARTICLES AS THE SAME PASS FEELER, AND WING MEANS ON SAID FEELER FOR INTERRUPTING THE LIGHT BEAM UPON PASSAGE OF AN ARTICLE TO GENERATE A PULSE WHICH MAY BE COUNTED IN A PULSE COUNTER WHICH IS ADAPTED FOR CONNECTION WITH THE PHOTOELECTRIC CELL OF THE IMPULSE TRANSMITTER. 